“The pot ale and draff could be converted into biofuel as a direct substitute for fossil-derived fuel, which would reduce oil consumption and CO2 emissions while also providing energy security - particularly in the rural and remote homelands of the whisky industry.”

“Turning our whisky industry’s by-products into raw materials for sustainable biofuels which can be used to power ordinary family cars is an example of the sort of innovative thinking Scotland excels in,” Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said.